Dear FDA, Sadly, I can’t attend the meeting in College Park, Maryland today regarding public comments in preparation for the International Cooperation on Cosmetics Regulation conference in November, but I’m emailing my input. Issue 1: Sunscreen Approval My first issue: the United States treats new sunscreen UV filtering agents as though they are new drugs, […]

Mom’s finally moved out of the hospital into rehab, which is great. She’s there to build up strength so that they can do the hernia surgery safely. They will also have to remove her gall bladder, but that is less of a problem at this point. Unfortunately, they can’t do both at once (unless they […]

Mom’s moved to a room on a different floor, so she’s now out of the ICU. Also, Rick posted a comment yesterday that clarifies what she’s up to: I was over there yesterday and a couple of times today, and Deirdre’s been over there, too. Cheryl started physical therapy this afternoon. Predictably and as I […]

Two weeks and almost two days after the cascade failure, mom is off the ventilator and onto a cannula delivering extra oxygen is all that she’s got now. It was really nice hearing her speak after so long.

She’s down to two IVs: food and pain meds. Still has some of the other meds injected, but they no longer need to be IVs, which is huge progress (she was on at least three heart meds, one of which was pretty toxic but super-critical). Physically, she was more alert and happily watching HGTV. After […]

This a continuation of the medical saga that began here. Where we were as of a couple of hours ago: Mom’s still in the ICU, and probably will be for at least a couple of days more. They’ve been able to keep her stable without surgery, which is good because then she’ll be more likely […]

First, for those of you who don’t know, my mom’s been in the hospital. The short version is that she’d had a gallstone, and that had caused diarrhea and vomiting, and she went to the ER a week ago Tuesday. They transferred her to a hospital room. A few days ago, it looked like she’d […]

I’m going to talk about vaccinations from the point of view of a person who’s older than most of the current vaccines, and what the changes have been like in my life. My Age, In Practical Terms I was born when there were 49 US states. (Hawaii became a state the following month.) I’m more […]

Bree was an Ellora’s Cave editor for twelve years before being laid off (along with all other freelance editors) in August. Here’s a quote from the fundraiser: It’s no secret that the EC editors’ unexpected layoffs on Aug.18 have adversely affected editors’ finances. In the case of one of our colleagues, Bree, her 12-year full-time […]

In Summer 1995, I picked up a book in a bookstore in Keene, New Hampshire where I worked before heading home for the weekend. I was enticed by the Stephen King blurb. I lived nearly 180 miles north in North Troy, Vermont. Now, I didn’t always start books right away, but this one I was […]